Suffice it to say that the internet wasn’t pleased. It’s the age of social media, so consumers were tweeting and Facebooking their complaints to anyone who would listen.

There were angry tweets, Facebook petitions to “Boycott to save Maker’s Mark” began popping up, and a normal Valentine’s day post on the company’s Facebook page was flooded with negative comments about the shift:

realising almost immediately that it made a huge mistake — “It was quickly, after a day or two” CCO Rob Samuels explained to Drink Spirits — the brand decided to embrace the social media platforms that were bashing it so hard to deliver the message that it was sorry and reversing its decision about lowering the alcohol content.

“It takes a little while to get your head wrapped around that because our feelings were hurt and our ego was hurt,” Samuels said, but less that a week later Maker’s Mark tweeted “You spoke. We listened.” with a link to its Facebook apology.

The apology notes that even though the reaction was highly negative,”please keep telling us what’s on your mind… It means a lot to us.”

A very active and loud social media consumer base has changed how companies do business. While a tiny flub can be blown up 10 fold because someone notices it on Twitter, Maker’s Mark’s response shows that, if well utilized, the very same tools can be used to help haters regain company faith.